Arthur's Pass & Otira Gorge to Greymouth

After a peaceful night at Lake Pearson we set off across the rest of the Great Divide - Arthur's Pass and Otira Gorge - beautiful scenery  with the mountains, creeks and broad, braided fairly dry stony riverbeds. It would be spectacular when the snow is still about - just the odd blob at this time of the year.

The Otira bridge 

Arthur's Pass village was very busy with tourists as well as lots of hikers weighed down with their big backpacks about to set off on one of the many walks in this area. It was tempting to stop and do a short one but the lack of a spare tyre was still on our minds and we were keen to get to Greymouth for a replacement. We soon realised that nothing was going to be open by the time we got there so we did turn off to Dillman's Dam for a coffee stop. 

Trish the fish!

The lake looked beautiful and so I took the opportunity to have a swim which was great - not cold at all and with a nice warm layer on top of the water where it wasn't disturbed. We were the only ones there by this time although we did see a father and son have a quick dip when we first arrived.

Coming back down the road from the Dam, where part of the very good West Coast Wilderness cycle trail is, we saw a huge volume of water exploding from the big pipes down the hill - maybe an overflow release from the Dam - a truly unexpected spectacular sight.

What do you mean "look behind you?"

Soon after reaching the coast we stopped for an hour or so by the Taramakau River so Len could have a spin for fish. Not really the right time of day though he did see a small one trying to reach his lure.

Then we headed onto and through Greymouth which looked brilliant in the sunshine, rather different from our memory of it 6 years ago when it was a grey, dismal, drizzly day.

The high rollers are outside!

We parked up on the beachfront at Jellyman Park, a free parking area for self contained vehicles and very very popular. We were right next to the stonewall built to protect the land from eroding and at high tide the water was coming right up - not great to get that saltwater on the bus but nice to listen to overnight.

Free camping left and right. 

There is another parking area higher up and a little further away from the sea with campers parked with no breathing space between - maybe up to 40 vans in that area. The council should make us all pay a few dollars to stay in such a beautiful spot. After dinner we had a good walk around the edge of the sea and river watching the surfers trying to catch the huge waves.

We had a young couple from Seattle camped next to us which is unusual as we don't come across many young ones here from the USA.